marianist.com/donate  •  3
For a free subscription to ALIVE magazine, email [email protected] and write “ALIVE subscription” in the subject 
line. Provide your name, address, and phone number.   
 marianist.com
Subscribe Now!
Printed on recycled paper.
Learn more about the Marianists at marianist.com.
Inside…
ASSUMPTION OF MARY.........................................................................4 
The Blessed Mother set an example for all of us in her lifetime of saying, “yes,” to God’s call.    
     
SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY ..........................................................................6 
A mother and daughter share a heartfelt partnership with the Marianist Mission.   
 
SACRED GROUND.................................................................................8 
Forensic students search for relics in soil from Saint Marianne Cope’s original burial site. 
 
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ........................................................................12 
New council members will read the signs of the times with the Blessed Mother's guidance. 
 
HOT TAKE ...........................................................................................16 
Marianist Brother tweaks a Texas-smoked brisket recipe for a taste of home cooking.  
 
DEPARTMENTS 
Provincial Letter................................................................................................................................... 2 
Annual Report ....................................................................................................................................18 
Obituaries.............................................................................................................................................34
Brother Ed Violett, SM 
Provincial 
 
Father Robert Jones, SM 
Assistant Provincial 
 
Bernadette McCaffrey Groner 
Communications Director 
 
Dave Luecking 
Editor 
 
Writers 
Father Michael Chiuri, SM 
Jamie Forsythe 
Kathleen Nelson 
Alex Z. Salinas 
Tina Steck  
 
Photographers 
Sid Hastings 
Jerry Naunheim 
Kathleen Nelson 
Darren Shiverdecker 
Julie Walling 
 
Contributors 
Marian Library, University of Dayton 
Chaminade University of Honolulu 
 
Graphic design 
Lopez Needleman Graphic Design, Inc. 
 
Copy editing 
Jane D. Palisch, JP Marketing Communications 
 
Front cover: Marianist Father Sean Downing 
celebrates Mass at the Province of U.S Chapter 
Meeting on March 6 at Marianist Retreat & 
Conference Center in Wildwood, Missouri. 
Photo by Sid Hastings 
 
ALIVE  
Vol. 23, No. 2 — Summer 2026 
 
ALIVE is published three times a year (Spring, 
Summer, Fall/Winter) by the Marianist Province 
of the United States, 4425 West Pine Blvd., 
St. Louis, Missouri 63108. For feedback or 
story ideas, please contact the editor at  
[email protected]. For changes to your 
mailing address or to subscribe, please 
email [email protected]. ALIVE  
accepts no unsolicited submissions. 
  
The Society of Mary (Marianists) is an  
international Roman Catholic religious  
congregation of priests and brothers. The 
Marianist Province of the United States 
comprises about 190 professed brothers 
and priests serving in the United States. The 
Province also includes communities and 
ministries in Ireland and Mexico, with mini­
stries in India and Eastern Africa. In the 
United States, it sponsors three universities: 
University of Dayton in Ohio, St. Mary’s  
University in San Antonio, and Chaminade 
University of Honolulu, as well as 17 high 
schools/middle schools, three parishes and 
three retreat centers. The congregation has 
been present in the United States since 1849, 
when the Marianists came to Cincinnati. 
Blessed William Joseph Chaminade founded 
the Society of Mary in 1817.
4
16
6

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.